The Day of the Clown

08 – **The Day of the Clown**
08 – The Day of the Clown
The Sarah Jane Adventures story
Cast
	Starring Tommy Knight – Luke Smith; Elisabeth Sladen – Sarah Jane Smith; Daniel Anthony – Clyde Langer; Anjli Mohindra – Rani Chandra; Alexander Armstrong – Voice of Mr Smith;
	Others Jem Brownlee – Dave Finn; Aaron Showsanya – Tony Warner; Bradley Walsh – The Pied Piper; Yasmin Paige – Voice of Maria Jackson; Huw Higginson – Mr Cunningham; Elijah Baker – Steve Wallace; Ace Bhatti – Haresh Chandra; Mina Anwar – Gita Chandra; Alan Ruscoe and Sean Palmer – Clowns; Floella Benjamin – Professor Rivers; Jessica Mogridge – Young Sarah Jane;
Production
Directed by	Michael Kerrigan
Written by	Phil Ford
Script editor	Gary Russell
Produced by	Nikki Smith
Executive producers	Russell T Davies; Julie Gardner
Music by	Sam Watts
Production code	2.3 and 2.4
Series	Series 2
Running time	2 episodes, 25 minutes each
First broadcast	6 October 2008
Last broadcast	13 October 2008
Chronology
← Preceded by; The Last Sontaran	Followed by →; Secrets of the Stars

The Day of the Clown is the second serial of the second series of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. It was first broadcast in two weekly parts on the CBBC channel on 6 and 13 October 2008. The Day of the Clown introduces main character Rani Chandra (Anjli Mohindra) and her parents, Haresh (Ace Bhatti) and Gita Chandra (Mina Anwar) to the series, with Rani joining the series' main cast. Rani succeeds the character of Maria Jackson (Yasmin Paige) as a main character in this serial, as Paige had left the series to focus on her academic studies. The serial was filmed in April 2008 and aired later that year on CBBC.

The serial depicts Rani moving onto the street which Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and her son Luke Smith (Tommy Knight) live on. Rani ends up joining Sarah Jane, Luke, and Luke's friend Clyde Langer (Daniel Anthony) in investigating a mysterious figure named Odd Bob the Clown, who is actually an alien who goes by the alias of Elijah Spellman (Bradley Walsh). The group believe Spellman to be behind the disappearances of several children.

The serial received positive reviews from critics, who highlighted the usage of a clown as an antagonist and the performance of Walsh. The serial was later novelised in November 2008.